How do Chinese AI bots stack up against ChatGPT? We put them to the test

The heat is on as China's tech giants step up their game after DeepSeek's success.

Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has actually long been President Xi Jinping's goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.

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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained model to reason from brand-new information.

2025 could also see the development of more Chinese AI models dealing with sophisticated reasoning jobs.

"We could see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research," Chen included.

AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.

Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond .

But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower design capabilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered creative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training extremely large AI designs."

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So how do Chinese AI bots compare against ChatGPT? We put them to the test.

WHICH BEST ADDRESSES CURRENT EVENTS IN CHINA?

In China, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems rather!"

To further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to innovative hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might also restrict its versatility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which postures extra difficulties during real-world release."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.

That was after multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.

However, yewiki.org it composed that "the authorities are performing a comprehensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: The incident took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the police.

Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are performing a comprehensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.

This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the event.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to present the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified reaction likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek composed a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.

"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters and authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It included intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up a good fight, creating a similarly remarkable cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".

"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a story that appeared more matched for an animation movie.

"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new reality and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-efficient development techniques - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.

In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its imaginative flair that produced a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which gives it an added advantage.

Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - simply like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, particularly for Chinese users.

"Ninety percent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive methods," Chen said.